Arithmetic is a basic skill that is very important for children to master. It is important because becoming skillful in arithmetic and mathematics allows one to do other things correctly. Becoming skillful in basic arithmetic such as addition and subtraction is needed before proceeding to other mathematical techniques such as multiplication and division and even further advanced mathematical operations such as algebra, trigonometry, geometry and calculus. General arithmetic such as addition and subtraction tends to be difficult for children to learn. The attention span of many children is short, and children often do not consider learning arithmetic to be fun. Furthermore, typical arithmetic teaching methods focus on straight memorization. Thus, children can often become easily distracted and disengaged. Even many currently-available arithmetic-related games focus on memorization. Also, when children do not learn arithmetic quickly, they tend to automatically conclude that they do not like math. This perpetuates the difficulties of learning arithmetic. Other prior art methods require children to count and mark up a number line in order to perform addition and subtraction problems. This often leads to children experiencing difficulties as the children inadvertently lose track of proper locations on the number line while counting and marking along the number line. Children's eye movements at this age level are lacking which leads to mistakes in using the number line. A more innovative method using unique physical training aids, or manipulatives that children can relate to will allow children to learn basic arithmetic quicker and more efficiently.
While such arithmetic methods, systems and games according to the prior art provide a number of advantageous features, they nevertheless have certain limitations. The present invention is provided to overcome certain of these limitations and other drawbacks of the prior art, and to provide new features not heretofore available. A full discussion of the features and advantages of the present invention is deferred to the following detailed description, which proceeds with reference to the accompanying drawings.